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Shoba Narayan

Shoba Narayan is Bangalore-based award-winning author. She is also a freelance contributor who writes about art, food, fashion and travel for a number of publications.

Articles by Shoba Narayan

The controversy over Sangeetha Kalanidhi

In giving the award to a musician who doesn’t respect the evolution from tradition and modernity, the Madras Music Academy may well have reduced its stature

The Music Academy decided to give this year’s Sangeetha Kalanidhi award to musician TM Krishna
Published on Mar 21, 2024 09:50 PM IST

How to balance inventiveness and restraint in cocktails

For a long time, my pet peeve was that cocktails in India were largely copycat: the names, the ingredients, the flavours, everything

The best cocktails are like a great piece of sculpture: they are all about structure and spirit. (Amal KS/HT PHOTO)
Updated on Mar 21, 2024 08:50 AM IST

The good life as per Indic thought

Early humans, whether in Egypt, China or India venerated and propitiated nature because their survival depended on it

Putting the sacred back into our relationship with nature will give an added fillip to our efforts to stave off climate change.
Published on Mar 13, 2024 03:48 PM IST

Being single in Bengaluru

Dating isn’t set up for introverts. Whether you are on Bumble or any other dating app; whether you attend singles meetups that happen regularly in the city

HT Image
Updated on Feb 01, 2024 08:02 AM IST

A confluence of science, song, the sun and their significance

Sankranti is among the most important because it signifies that the sun will move from Dhanu (Sagittarius) to Makara (Capricorn) in the Indian lunar calendar

Like most harvest festivals, Sankranti honours the sun. (HT Photo)
Updated on Jan 18, 2024 08:52 AM IST

Why bother making resolutions if you cannot keep them?

New Year's resolutions are expressions of hope, but their success record is often patchy. Keeping resolutions simple and breaking them down into small parts can help increase the chances of success. Desperation often leads to resolution and action, so don't give up hope. The author's resolution is to renew her relationship with yoga.

People celebrate New Year on a Bengaluru street. (HT Photo)
Updated on Jan 05, 2024 04:28 PM IST

Street fairs, floats and processions and how Bengaluru enjoys them

Karnataka, like many Indian states has over 1000 village fairs that take place throughout the year. Most are linked to season or festivals

Folk artistes take part in a procession during the inauguration of the 'Namma Jatre' programme at Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru on December 10. (PTI/File)
Updated on Dec 21, 2023 08:44 AM IST

What does Goa have that Bengaluru doesn’t?

This piece is about land fostering a creative ferment and certain places do it better than others. Can Bengaluru aspire to be part of the mix?

The Bangalore Literature Festival which just concluded remains community funded and grows bigger every year. (HT file photo)
Updated on Dec 07, 2023 09:04 AM IST

Bengaluru’s tribal fierce goddesses

As an Indian woman brought up with the expectation that women are the keepers of harmony within family and community, I find these fierce goddesses liberating

Hindu goddesses are thought of as “mothers,” givers of prosperity like Lakshmi, and the Sita who accepts everything. What happened to the fierce goddesses like Kali, who could give us permission to invoke the warrior within us? (HT Archives)
Updated on Nov 23, 2023 09:20 AM IST

Looking inside one of Bengaluru’s subcultures

Nature is central of India’s civilisational ethos. It is central to our faith, festivals, mythology and iconography

Crowd at flower market ahead of festive season at KR Market in Bengaluru. (PTI/Representational Image)
Updated on Nov 09, 2023 08:48 AM IST

When will a Kannadiga character appear in Bollywood?

The soft power that comes from Korean television serials, its music and fashion is a long way off for Bengaluru because like it or not, we are still a city with a programming, engineering mindset that values dot.coms more than connecting the dots in a creative imaginative fashion

A crowd of people waiting in line to get movie tickets outside a cinema hall. (AFP)
Updated on Oct 30, 2023 06:56 AM IST

Goddess energy in city

Aachar & Co is a breath of fresh air. Here too, women play to stereotypes (all the girls want to get married, which is perhaps true of that age), but they aren’t opaque lacklustre heroines created only to please men

For nine nights, it is believed that Goddess Durga descends from the heavens and conquers evil, the author says as she draws contrast with the show Aachar & Co. (HT Archive)
Updated on Oct 13, 2023 09:08 AM IST

Is beer the butter chicken of Bengaluru?

You have to try and visit one of the 85 craft breweries in the city to witness the craze of beer among Indian, especially Bengalureans

No other alcoholic beverage other than beer has been able to forge such a huge fan base among the Indians– and Bengalureans. (HT Archive)
Updated on Sep 28, 2023 08:38 AM IST

What is distinctive about the Bengaluru art scene

Owner of Gallery Sumukha wonders the reason behind an absence of anyone from the IT industry in Bengaluru’s rich art scene

Gallery Sumukha’s owner says they never had anyone from the IT industry as a visitor. (PTI)
Updated on Sep 22, 2023 10:44 AM IST

Students leaving home for college and the accompanying checklist

Parents put in efforts to figure out the “university list” of things to pack as their offsprings all over the country leave home for college within India and all around the world

Right about now, thousands of students all over India will be leaving home for college within the country or all over the world. (HT PHOTO)
Updated on Aug 24, 2023 07:50 PM IST

How to negotiate and get things done in B’luru

Moving to a new city, like Bengaluru, can be challenging when it comes to getting things done. Negotiating with government officials and finding the right tailor are just some of the hurdles. While bribes are an option, some choose to use alternative methods, like numerology or gifting educational books and fabric. Social media makes shopping easy, but finding a tailor requires more effort and negotiation skills. The key is to have multiple options and be willing to switch if necessary. Brinksmanship is also a common tactic in various situations.

I know women who come all the way to the Commercial Street to stitch their clothes because it contains a concentration of talent and fabric material, says the author (Hemant Mishra/ Mint)
Updated on Aug 03, 2023 12:33 AM IST

Walking the talk about Inclusion

But what about inclusion and diversity—something every brand talks about today. Talk is cheap though. What counts is putting your money where your mouth is.

Shoba Narayan (HT Photo)
Updated on Jul 20, 2023 01:00 AM IST

The Kannadiga obsession with khara-bhaath

The bhath has the consistency of thick porridge and you could argue that this is the Kannada comfort food.

Shoba Narayan (HT Archives)
Updated on Jul 06, 2023 12:38 AM IST

Why do so few outsiders bother to learn Kannada?

“Linguistic jingoism only happened after the states were reorganised by language. Before that, the borders were much more porous.”

Learning Kannada could open up Bangalore for you in ways that you cannot imagine. (HT photo)
Updated on Jun 22, 2023 01:08 AM IST

Better than bhel puri: Girmit or mandakki

To understand the hold that girmit or churmuri has on people from Karnataka, you have to understand that it is not just a recipe. It is an ecosystem

To understand the hold that girmit or churmuri has on people from Karnataka, you have to understand that it is not just a recipe. It is an ecosystem. (HT Photo)
Updated on Jun 08, 2023 01:19 AM IST

What kind of a coffee drinker are you?

My divide is much more nuanced and connected to those of us who wake up to filter coffee every morning. The question is: where do you buy your coffee from?

Shoba Narayan (HT Photo)
Updated on May 10, 2023 12:29 AM IST

Is the Kannadiga sambhar overrated?

Most restaurants in Bangalore do not serve sambhar with the dosè. Thank God, I say because I think the Kannadiga sambhar is overrated

Shoba Narayan (HT Photo)
Updated on Apr 26, 2023 12:39 AM IST

How to spot a Bangalorean

But even the firebrands from other regions of Karnataka and other states calm down when they come to Bengaluru. Why is that? For a city of some 12 million, Bangaloreans are among the most genteel and polite people in India, if not the world

Shoba Narayan (HT Archive)
Updated on Apr 13, 2023 12:33 AM IST

10 mind blowing things about B’luru’s history

So you see, don’t dismiss this city as merely modern. It is as modern and cosmopolitan as it gets, but it is also an ancient settlement.

Shoba Narayan (HT Archive)
Published on Mar 30, 2023 12:24 AM IST

Why do Bangaloreans like single-colour chutneys?

To verify my theory about Kannada food minimalism, I crashed weddings in Basavanagudi, Chamrajpet, Jayanagar and Malleshwaram

Shoba Narayan (FILE)
Published on Mar 16, 2023 01:08 AM IST

Why Bengaluru’s traffic makes it the startup capital of India?

Do a search on India’s startup capital and two cities come up: Bengaluru and Delhi

Why Bengaluru’s traffic makes it the startup capital of India?
Published on Mar 02, 2023 12:47 AM IST

The chef as an artist or businessperson?

Chef Manu Chandra, who has many well-wishers in Bengaluru, has opened Lupa, his first entrepreneurial venture

Shoba Narayan (FILE)
Published on Feb 16, 2023 03:08 AM IST

Which breakfast is better? Kannada or Tamil one?

I may be wading into the Kaveri here, but a question arose recently in a mixed group about whether the Karnataka or the Tamil Nadu interpretation of the classic idli-dosa breakfast was better.

Shoba Narayan (HT Archive)
Updated on Feb 04, 2023 12:24 AM IST

Where can you go to shop in Bengaluru?

This is one of the most frequent questions I get asked by visiting friends: where do you shop in Bengaluru?And the answer in the great Indian tradition is “Depends on what you want to buy

Shoba Narayan (HT)
Published on Jan 17, 2023 11:55 PM IST

The delicate art of maintaining friendships

“Okay, I am going to reveal a vulnerability,” confessed a friend during a recent New Year’s party

Columnist Shoba Narayan (HT File)
Updated on Jan 10, 2023 04:35 PM IST
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